Islands of Ireland: The artist captivated by Crovinish

The attraction for Rooymans to Clew Bay and Crovinish was inescapably the landscape

Crovinish, Clew Bay, Co Mayo. Once home to the Dutch artist Ron Rooymans. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

While the quality of light that artists need for painting is exceptional in Achill Island, Co Mayo, it is just as ethereal or breathtaking in Clew Bay just down the road.

The attraction of Ireland’s second-largest island to the artists among us was captured by Mary Murphy’s superb ‘Achill Painters’ last year. The appeal of the island to Marie Howet, Mainie Jellet, Paul Henry and many others was elicited as clear as a shaft of light from the heavens. An area can begin to attract more people simply because others have heard about it and want to see for themselves. And Achill was a magnet.